Cookie Thursday 06/16-mini popovers

Inflation baking continues. The ingredients in this “cookie” are simple- eggs, milk, flour. And that’s it.

Popovers are meant to be more of a savory but when I make them I always reserve a couple to have with cinnamon sugar. Because a fried tasting dough that is NOT fried with a cinnamon sugar to dip it in? Yes, please and thank you. Considering how simple they are to make I am shocked at myself for not making them more often.

And today was an experiment. Aren’t they always? I do have a popover pan but that is for big popovers. I honestly had no idea if using the mini muffin pan would work. And it did! Yay, I love it when my experiments do not go awry. I’m looking at you, oatmeal bbq chip cookie. You should have worked.

As always there was a learning curve when using the mini pan. Only half of the batch “popped” over the top of the pan like they were supposed to. I may need to add more to the well next time. Or rest the batter. I’ll find out when I make them again. That is half of the the fun of Cookie Thursday is a Thing, I get to experiment on my coworkers. I wonder if adding a hard cheese, such as parmesan would change the popover. We’ll find out.

Recap: popovers that taste like fried dough but aren’t. A popover shell that can be savory or sweet depending on the add ins. It is hard to beat the yum factor of either.

The reason I have themed this month and last Inflation Baking is not going away.

Sticker shock is everywhere.

I know people who are economizing purchases. I’ve been to the dollar store at least twice this month. And I have been exploring Aldi for food. The jury is still out on Aldi. I’ll see. The cereal is good though.

Last month another nurse gave me $20 for supplies after she heard that Cookie Thursday is a Thing is a self-funded, one woman operation. And it is but it gives structure to my week and a weekly baking experiment. I gave one of my last pounds of butter to my mom so that she could avoid going to the store. I mean, I get food from them at least once a week. I had a pound and a half left that I haven’t touched in 2 months. I mean, inflation baking has been light on butter usage. And butter is the most costly ingredient in this endeavor.

I’ve been stalking the weekly supermarket ads, waiting for butter to go on sale. There are SIX grocery chains in the two towns that immediately surround my own. I am also not opposed to store brand butter. And these things are cyclical. I missed butter last time, about four weeks ago. And last week I missed butter at one of the stores because I didn’t want to drive to the store. It is all about batching the errands, you know.

But this week another grocery store had butter on special, and it was on the way home. I got 4 pounds of a chi-chi butter as it was on sale, and cheaper than the store brand, and a pound of another brand I have never tried. 5 pounds of butter for my $20. Not too shabby.